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Book Description

The Hostage (Sarah Roberts Book Four)

Meet Elmore Ackerman. He idolizes Sarah Roberts from afar, and has done so for more than five years. He has studied her pictures, memorized her news clippings and now waits in the dark for the day when he can make Sarah his hostage.
A steel cage waits for Sarah, where Elmore has practiced what he will do to her. The other girls he has practiced with now lay discarded, buried about his property. He keeps their fingernails and toenails to roll between his teeth, to savor their strength, to feel the nails weaken and give in, just as his victims do.
Elmore has a plan for Sarah, and she walks right into his trap.
Sarah Roberts is his hostage and no one knows where they are.
In Sarah Roberts Book Four, The Hostage, Sarah is in a fight not just for her freedom, but also her life.

Meet Elmore Ackerman. He idolizes Sarah Roberts from afar, and has done so for more than five years. He has studied her pictures, memorized her news clippings and now waits in the dark for the day when he can make Sarah his hostage.
A steel cage waits for Sarah, where Elmore has practiced what he will do to her. The other girls he has practiced with now lay discarded, buried about his property. He keeps their fingernails and toenails to roll between his teeth, to savor their strength, to feel the nails weaken and give in, just as his victims do.
Elmore has a plan for Sarah, and she walks right into his trap.
Sarah Roberts is his hostage and no one knows where they are.
In Sarah Roberts Book Four, The Hostage, Sarah is in a fight not just for her freedom, but also her life.

Okay, admittedly, I did not read the previous books in the 'series', however I am not accustomed to a character series of books that end in a cliff-hanger.I enjoyed the book for the most part, was able to keep up with the myriad of plots taking place at once... but found myself completely frustrated at the end.. wondering what happened to the final chapter.Am I missing something that the 5 star reviewers have figured out?If it had been a 'paper book', I'd have been looking for the torn out pages where the final chapter (or two) should have been.It's as though the publisher called and said "Time's up!! Send it over!"Well-written and complex, but.... can't give it more than 2 stars for the ending alone. It was a couple of rainy afternoons I'll never get back.

I tried to like it, I just couldn't. The "Sarah was captured again" theme was ridiculous. I can only imagine how many times she's been kidnapped, escaped, and kidnapped again in all the series. I have no desire to find out, reading only one in this series was enough.

I know, that title is very harsh but it's true. I could not believe that I kept reading it. I'll try to break down my disappointment in the shortest way possible.

1. If you haven't read any of the previous books in the series, you are out of luck. The story begins without any sort of background information on the main character, you are just supposed to figure it out; even though the author doesn't give you much to go on. At first, I thought it was interesting because it made me want to keep reading, but eventually, it just pissed me off because it took almost 10 chapters to finally get to the point. It was so drawn out, that by the time it finally got there, I had just stopped caring.

2. It's almost as if this book was written by three different authors. I actually found myself looking forward to reading the "bad guy" point of view because that is the only time I felt I was actually reading an author's work who wasn't 12 years old.

3. The "love story" part of this book is so absurd, it made me physically angry. If I had actually bought a book instead of reading it on my kindle, I would have thrown it across the room. It feels as if the author asked his teenage daughter what kind of magical fairy tale she thought would be interesting, and went from there.

I read a lot, close to 5 books a month. I can easily tell you this book is THE WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ, and that includes the Twilight series garbage. Do not waste your money, or your time. The only "good" thing about this experience is that I didn't waste money on it because I borrowed it out of the Kindle Owner's Lending Library...but then again, that means I wasted my one free rental a month...so I take that back. No good can come from this experience.

Other than the phrasing and grammar mistakes, this book started out okay. It was interesting and would have earned a 3 if the author hadn't gone off on a wild tangent(s) that took over the book. Okay, I got the whole "crazy guy wants to take her hostage" thing. Then, she's being chased by some whacked out government (I think) secret agency who wants her for her "abilities". Between dodging those guys she's about to be killed by some foreign mob (can't even remember why, really). Don't forget the few days she spent with the first serial killer. Add in a mix of middle school level crush, and you've got THE HOSTAGE. The entire book got way off the main idea and was so far-fetched it was tough to read even for fiction.Sorry.

I don't review a lot of books, because if I did, it would take up all of my time.However, I felt compelled to write about this one, because it was just...so....bad...in my opinion, of course. I am not asking anyone to agree with me, and I certainly have nothing against the author. I really admire people who write fiction (just so you know) even if I don't always admire the end product. So if the author does read this, please understand, dear writer, these are just details that a good proofreader would have picked out.

I read the first page....then read it again...trying to comprehend what it was actually about. You shouldn't have to read a synopsis of a story in order to understand the first few paragraphs (my opinion.)

There were so many odd, incorrect sentences...."The cabin crew and myself...." (should be "the cabin crew and I)

"...and the consequences will be severe. Got it." (Got it is a question. He was ASKING her..."Got it?")

"...We're hunting a killer.....do you really want that on your conscience if they kill again?" (it is killer, singular, and the character knew it was a woman, therefore it should have been written "she." Not "they."

"It's frequency range blocks anything....." (its, not it's)

"...Even though it was dark and her eyes wide, she saw nothing...." (..and her eyes were wide....)

And my personal favorite...."...When everything was over he would hunt Sarah down and find her." (a bit redundant, don't you think?)

Then there was the language. F F F F F....I lost count very early on. The writer needs to expand his vocabulary. It made me disgusted by Sarah, not sympathetically inclined towards her at all.

Much of the dialogue was incredibly silly....kind of cartoon-like....it was hard to take the book seriously, especially the charicature (yes, I mean charicature, not character) who was finger nail moron.

Honestly, I only kept reading this book because I was entertained by the errors. I couldn't drum up any feelings at all for any of the characters, at least, not any positive feelings. I got this book for free on my Kindle, but if I had paid even .99 for it, I would have asked for a refund.Read more ›

More About the Author

"I have read a lot of Koontz, Patterson, Connelly, Coben ... they were starting to blend together ... in my opinion, Jonas Saul is my favorite author out there." -Reviewer

Jonas Saul is from Toronto, Canada. He lives in Leavenworth, Washington. He is always writing the next novel.The Sarah Roberts Series are his best selling novels with the highest reviews.

Jonas Saul's published novels include:

The Sarah Roberts Series:1. Dark Visions2. The Warning3. The Crypt4. The Hostage (*Featuring Drake Bellamy from The Threat)5. The Victim (*Featuring Aaron Stevens from The Specter) 6. The Enigma7. The Vigilante8. The Rogue (*Featuring Darwin and Rosina Kostas from The Mafia Trilogy in a cameo appearance)9. Killing Sarah10. The Antagonist11. The Redeemed12. The Haunted13. The Unlucky14. The Abandoned (Coming Soon)

The Mafia Trilogy (Starring Darwin and Rosina Kostas)1. The Kill2. The Blade3. The Scythe